Synthesis of new thermo/pH sensitive drug delivery systems based on tragacanth gum polysaccharide.

In this study, new pH/temperature responsive graft copolymers were synthesized based on natural Tragacanth Gum (TG) carbohydrate and their controlled drug release was investigated. Amphiphilic alkyne terminated terpolymers (mPEG-PCL-PDMAEMA-CCH)s consist of methylated poly(ethyleneglycol) (mPEG), polycaprolactone (PCL), and poly(dimethylaminoethylmethacrylate) (PDMAEMA) were synthesized by using ring opening polymerization (ROP) and atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), and then were grafted onto azide-functionalized TG molecules by click chemistry. Different techniques such as FT-IR, (1)H NMR, gel permeation chromatography (GPC), thermo-gravimetrical analysis (TGA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to verify the successful synthesis of graft copolymers (TG-g-PDMAEMA-PCL-mPEG)s. The graft copolymers self-assembled to single micelles in aqueous solution and upon pH changes further assembled into micellar aggregates. These micelles were used to prepare quercetin loaded nanocarriers by probe sonication method. Size and morphology of the nanocarriers were studied by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and SEM. The in vitro release behavior of quercetin from these micelles showed pH-dependence. The results showed that release profile of quercetin best followed the first order model.